The present invention pertains to an apparatus and method for providing insurance products, services and/or coverage for leased entities and, in particular, to an apparatus and method for providing insurance products for leased and/or rented vehicles, personal as well as business articles and entities and residential and commercial premises and properties.
In recent times, a growing number of individuals and business concerns have turned to leasing and/or renting articles such as automobiles, boats, airplanes, office equipment, computers and computer equipment and various other articles. Residential as well as commercial property leases and rentals have also been popular and, in many situations, necessary.
Leasing and renting, however, place responsibility for the care and well-being of the leased and/or rented entity upon the respective lessee or renter. The leased or rented entity or premises must be maintained and delivered back to the lessor or landlord in relatively good condition. In this regard, wear and tear which is in excess of normal wear and tear is typically not acceptable to the lessor or landlord without the lessee or renter being held responsible for this excess wear and tear and/or damage. The lessee or renter is also usually held responsible for post-warranty repairs which are required and which result from normal wear and tear, the malfunction and/or failure of any components and/or systems of the leased and/or rented entity and/or from any defects in material and/or workmanship in any component and/or system of the leased and/or rented entity. In this regard, the lessee or renter will typically be held financially responsible for this excess wear and tear and/or damage, including post-warranty repairs, to the leased and/or rented entity.
Oftentimes, excess wear and tear of a leased or rented article or premises may be beyond the lessee""s or renter""s control, yet the lessee or renter may still be held financially liable for the resulting repairs and/or repair bills in excess of any previously paid security deposit. This can lead to a financial hardship and an unexpected financial burden to many. In the case of leased motor vehicles, the excess wear and tear charges may be substantial. The same may hold true for leased boats, recreational vehicles, airplanes as well as leased office equipment, computers and computer equipment. Lastly, those who lease or rent residential and/or commercial premises may also find themselves with substantial liability upon termination of their lease and/or rental relationship with the landlord or property owner.
While many insurance products and services exist to limit one""s liability and/or to provide monetary protection upon the occurrence of certain events, no corresponding insurance products services and/or coverage exist which provides insurance coverage for individuals and/or business entities which would serve to protect these individuals and/or business entities from liability which may arise as the result of excess wear and tear and/or damage which may have occurred to the leased entity during the lease and/or rental term.
In a similar manner, no insurance products, services and/or coverage exists for protecting individuals and/or business entities from liability which results from post-warranty repairs, aside from the purchase of extended warranty protection, which typically covers the entity well past the lease term and which is usually very costly and impractical for a lesser or renter to purchase.
The present invention provides an apparatus and a method for overcoming the shortfalls of the prior art and provides an apparatus and a method for providing insurance products, services and/or coverage which provides insurance coverage for protecting individuals and/or business entities from liability which may arise as the result of excess wear and tear and/or damage which may occur to a leased and/or rented entity during the lease and/or rental term, and further, for protecting individuals and/or business entities from liability for post-warranty repairs.
The apparatus comprises a central processing unit, a read only memory device, a random access memory device, a user input device(s), a display device, an output device and a database. The database contains data and/or information which is relevant to determining insurance policies and premiums related to the leasing and/or rental of vehicles, motor vehicles, boats, recreational vehicles, airplanes, aircraft, motorcycles, office equipment, computers, computer equipment and other articles, personal and/or commercial, which may be the subject of a lease or rental arrangement. The database also includes data and/or information which is relevant in determining insurance policies and premiums for residential and/or commercial properties and/or premises.
Data and/or information, which is related to vehicle leases, includes vehicle year, model, vehicle components and/or systems along with their repair costs, replacement costs, probability of damage, probability of post-warranty repairs necessitated by wear and tear, damage, malfunctioning components and/or systems and defects in materials, parts, components, systems and/or workmanship, average costs for repairs, historical leasing data including costs of typical repairs, average total excess wear and tear costs for the entire vehicle. Vehicle leasing data and/or information also includes locality, regional and geographical data which is correlated with excess wear and tear along with data and/or information which is related to driving habits and/or patterns in a given area or areas. Data and information related to individuals and/or business entities, by region, occupation etc, including driving habits, leasing histories, etc., will also be included in the database.
The database will also include data and/or information for particular individuals and/or business entities which includes personal, individual and/or organizational driving and/or usage patterns and/or driving histories and leasing histories as well as any other information which an insurer may deem necessary and/or desirable in determining whether insurance should be offered to an individual and/or business entity.
Data and/or information related to the leasing and/or rental of any other leasable article and/or entity, such as, for example, personal, residential and/or commercial office equipment, computers, computer equipment, facsimile machines, copy machines, furniture as well as any other article, piece of equipment and/or entity (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cleasable articlexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9carticlexe2x80x9d) are also included in the database. Leasable article data and/or information includes article year, model, article components and/or systems along with their repair costs, replacement costs, probability of damage, probability of post-warranty repairs necessitated by wear and tear, damage, malfunctioning components and/or systems and defects in materials, parts, components, systems and/or workmanship, average costs for repairs, historical leasing data including typical repair costs and average total excess wear and tear costs for the entire article. Article leasing data and/or information also includes locality, regional and geographical data which is correlated with excess wear and tear along with data and/or information which is related to use habits and/or patterns in a given area or areas. Data and information related to individuals and/or business entities, by region, occupation, etc., including use habits, leasing histories, etc., will also be included in the database.
The database will also include data and/or information for particular individuals and/or business entities which includes personal, individual and/or organizational use habits and/or patterns and/or use histories and leasing histories as well as any other information which an insurer may deem necessary and/or desirable in determining whether insurance should be offered to an individual and/or business entity.
Data and/or information related to the lease or rental of residential and/or commercial premises which are included in the database, includes type and age of premises, parts and/or components and/or systems of the premises along with their repair costs, replacement costs, probability of damage, probability of post-warranty repairs necessitated by wear and tear, damage, malfunctioning components and/or systems and defects in materials, parts, components, systems and/or workmanship, average costs for repairs, historical leasing and/or renting data, including typical repair costs and average total excess wear and tear costs for the entire premises. Premises leasing data and/or information also includes locality, regional and geographical data which is correlated with excess wear and tear along with data and/or information which is related to use habits and/or patterns in a given area or areas. Data and information related to individuals and/or business entities, by region, nature of use, including use habits, leasing and/or rental histories, etc., will also be included in the database.
The database also includes data and/or information for particular individuals and/or business entities which includes personal, individual and/or organizational use habits and/or patterns and/or use histories and leasing and/or rental histories as well as any other information which an insurer may deem necessary and/or desirable in determining whether insurance should be offered to an individual and/or business entity.
The database also includes all necessary actuarial, statistical and related data and/or information necessary in performing the calculations and analysis deemed necessary in underwriting and issuing an insurance policy and/or coverage, including premium determination for any of the herein described insurance policies, products, services and/or coverage.
As noted above, the present invention provides an apparatus and a method for providing insurance policies, products, services and/or coverage for protection against liability which may arise as the result of excess wear and tear to a leased and/or rented entity and/or for liability which may arise for post-warranty repairs. In this regard, individuals and/or business entities may obtain insurance so as to protect themselves from liabilities which might arise from the lease and/or rental of an entity which may have experienced excess wear and tear and/or damage during the lease or rental term. Further insurance for post-warranty repairs may also be obtained.
The present invention can also provide insurance policies, products, services and/or coverage for any of the herein-described entities while providing an incentive and/or incentive or incentives, to individuals and/or business entities, for minimizing excess wear and tear and/or damage to the leased and/or rented entity by providing for a commensurate rebate of a portion of the policy premiums or charges, at the end of the lease and/or rental term. In this regard, an individual and/or business entity may choose to elect an insurance policy with an incentive program so that a portion of the policy premium or charges will be refunded to him, her, or it, respectively, when and if the entity is returned with no and/or minimal excess wear and tear and/or with no and/or minimal damage. Such an incentive program would serve to reward individuals and/or business entities who and/or which, respectively, maintain the entity, during the lease and/or rental term, so that the entity is returned with no and/or minimal wear and tear or with no and/or minimal damage.
In an alternate embodiment, the apparatus of the present invention is utilized in a network environment so as to provide insurance policies, products, services and/or coverage in, and over, a network such as on, or over, the Internet, the World Wide Web and/or any other communications network and/or system.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for providing insurance policies, products, services and/or coverage for leased and/or rented entities and/or premises for providing insurance protection against liability which may arise as the result of excess wear and tear and/or damage which may occur to a leased and/or rented entity during the lease and/or rental term.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for providing insurance policies, products, services and/or coverage for leased and/or rented entities and/or premises for providing insurance protection against liability which may arise as the result of post-warranty repairs.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for providing insurance policies, products, services and/or coverage for leased and/or rented entities and/or premises which is implemented using software in conjunction with a computer and/or a processing system.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for providing insurance policies, products, services and/or coverage for leased motor vehicles.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for providing insurance policies, products, services and/or coverage for leased boats and marine vehicles.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for providing insurance policies, products, services and/or coverage for leased airplanes and aircraft.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for providing insurance policies, products, services and/or coverage for leased articles and/or equipment of any variety or type.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for providing insurance policies, products, services and/or coverage for leased and/or rented residential premises and/or commercial premises.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for providing insurance policies, products, services and/or coverage for leased and/or rented entities which provides incentives for maintaining the leased and/or rented entity with no and/or minimum excess wear and tear and/or with no and/or minimal damage during the lease and/or rental term.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for providing insurance policies, products, services and/or coverage for leased and/or rented entities, vehicle, premises, equipment and other appropriate articles on, or over, a communication network such as on, or over, the Internet, the World Wide Web and/or any other communications and/or network environment and/or medium.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those individuals skilled in the art upon a review of the Description Of The Preferred Embodiment taken in conjunction with the Drawings which follow.